Your Stories, My Stories and Our Stories – Stories on Storytelling

Storytelling has different forms and showcases different facets of life as we travel to different parts of the world – it is the culture, it is the traditions, it is the customs, these nuanced ingredients blends up beautifully to provide the perfect recipe. The special flavour and subtle aroma makes a world of difference to many such similar stories as it comes from different corners of the world – people and places; their interpretation and their perspectives, though the countries, India to Italy and continents, Australia to Africa keep us apart but these imaginative stories have common threads and we are collectively connected.

Puppets to masks to music to dance to poetry to plays coincidentally play their profound part in performing those stories in front of riveting audiences absorbing the very act of storytelling.

It was happening in the open under a TREE TALK where people gathered and the narrator shared the story…storytelling hasn’t changed but the surrounding has changed – and now it is happening in an enclosure under the banner TED TALK where people gather and the narrator shares the story.

Dastangoi, once a popular form of storytelling in Central Asian countries, it is a blend of two Persian word “Dastan” meaning story and “Goi” meaning telling. This form of storytelling tells tales on magic to adventure to warfare. Agta, a group of hunter gathers from Philippines, as they move around places, they keep gathering new stories and keep sharing. Storytelling is a universal human trait, and it has been portrayed as important human adaptation. As humans have evolved, the art of storytelling concurrently has contributed to the betterment of the human life and the art of living through listening to some of the most fascinating stories.

The very act of storytelling is a process of building social bondage and fostering better human relationships. The heart of human existence is in the art of making beautiful human relationships.

Rag to rich stories, lost love to best lover story, getting haunted by a ghost to hunting the ghost out of life – there are these legends, the myths, the fables, the parables to the stories from mythologies. Once upon a time those great stories but stories are unfolding right now, right here…there are poignant stories scattered across the battered towns and cities trapped in civil wars, as we peep into the eyes of those innocent children suffering the battle of ethnic, religious and political supremacy in Syria to Yemen, the battle for provisions in the sub-Sahara Africa to peace in sub-Terrain Afghanistan. When you look at these children spattered with bloods in their face being lifted out of that concrete debris, the question that hits us hard what wrong have they made and why are these naïve children being heedlessly targeted. Doesn’t their agonizing story matter to us?

Is there something called humanity in existence?

Are these group of people behind the gun are devoid of heart?

Are they blindfolded?

Is their mind clouded with vengeance beyond redemption and is that they just cannot see anything else?

Stories of children, walk into the rehabilitation camps where these children are unmindful of the imminent disaster that have struck them where they had lost their parents and now they are thrown into an uncertain future and here they are with strangers and trying to stage a new community. They have just left a past of danger and now they have a doubtful future, present appears as an oasis in the desert of deserted life. They cannot think, they cannot question, they have no options, they are helpless and they are merely going through the motion of life devoid of all emotions. The heart-wrenching stories of these innocents children…

Every story counts. We all have so many stories to tell – some are fascinating and others are aren’t; just that we hesitate to express. We negate our own thought. We undermine our own stories. We reject our own hypothesis. People are waiting there to hear our side of the story…

We are inspired by hearing to powerful stories told by people around us. We are moved by listening to other’s others, but what about our own stories. Where are we as protagonist, why should we always think ourselves to be the antagonist? We have also gone through the struggle, the agony and the fight to finish, may not always be on the podium but definitely the finish line and everybody are not able to do that and we are done a better job.

Rakugo, the traditional Japanese art of storytelling, started as a form of entertainment for common citizens during the Edo Period (1603–1868). Entertainers would perform the generally humorous monologues, but gradually specialists emerged. Performances are generally based on farcical comedy or compassionate human drama. These are now known as rakugoka. It is the job of the rakugoka to inspire the imagination of the audience through the dexterity employed in portraying the world of the story. There are still storytellers today who specialize in the classic rakugoanecdotes first told in the Edo period, which has been passed down from master to disciple through the years.

Life is relativebut stories are absolute. We have to put our stories in the screen and signal to others to come and see our stories and let them get moved and inspired by us. It needs the ignition. It needs the determination. It needs the fuel to galvanize the stagnated vehicle within us.

Stories doesn’t have any specific colour nor that it works well on any particular canvas, it is all in the hands of the painter who moves the brush and the strokes follows and there is apparently no pattern and then suddenly the painter as the storyteller tells a beautiful story all decked up in myriad colors.

For ages fascinating stories have emanated from the LandofArabs, and we have been hooked to the Arabian Tales…source of legends and fables. The bold adventures of kings to the passion of romancing their beautiful queens, the myths about warriors and the religious mythology of the world gone by…there are thousands of stories of the bygone eras. Hakawati, is a storyteller. One of the most engrossing age old storytelling traditions, motif rich storytelling technique now dotted with drama, satire and spectacle make the audience enthralled. The word has its origin from terms hekaye and haki, in Arab the former means story and the later means talk. Anybody who talked about stories is lavishly branded as hakawati. There were no other means of entertainment and audiences gathered in front of such hakawati in rapt attention to listen to tales of valor to tragedy of vanquish and there were joy, love, hope and happiness at the end to fleeting lift them from the pool of sorrow and misery.

In the standard structure of a story – it has to have a beginning, the middle and the end…there is a setting, there is a struggle, there is a solution and there is a summary that we all can carry back home. Master Storytellers break the rules and set the agenda, the art of storytelling gets crafted through their masterly ingenuity. In life it all happens and we are mere actors as characters, life is a drama, and we are perennial artist, and we don’t need a script and it is impromptu and it is instinct and it is the action that makes us a true hero or a tyranny of a villain. Once the event is over we have all the ammunition in our hands to fire in translating that life experience into a fictional screenplay. We do all that is needed to decorate the fact as it is suppose to be a fictional take on the factual occurrence.

Many of us when we write a story we prick the imagination and pick the hazy images stored in our memory bank over the years of observations and experiences.

As a writer we merge it seamlessly and we stitch together the fabrics of fact and fictionin a way that as reader we don’t witness the fractured part of the layers so subtly dovetailed into the composition of the story, the art of storytelling lies in the craft of weaving the words into our thoughts.

Kaavadiyais an old rustic art form, more than (400-500) years. The Kaavadiyas are the storytellers. In the sand dunes of Rajasthan, Kawaad Bachana is a fascinating blend of picture painting, musical assortment and mythological tales. There is a belief that listening to stories while watching to painting purifies our souls and cleanses our impure thoughts. Initially this form of story telling interpreting pictures were on fabric but fabric unable to withstand the inclement weather, the artists moved onto the wooden shrines. Kawaads are nomadic and they move from village to village and stay put in each place for short duration and showcase their performance and then they move on to another place. The vintage shrine is painted with myriad colors and mythological characters. The temple structured shrine has a layers doors fastened. Unfastening of each door, Kawaad is opened and the stories are told as per the scenes on the doors. The stories go from door to door and the teammates rally as narrator the opening of new doors to tale new chapter in the story. The stories are inspired from mythology and there is lavish mention of the characters from the epics of Ramayana to Mahabharata. Being considered scared shrines, certain rituals are mandatory and donations keep coming for sustaining livelihood of the narrator.

Stories have been the bedrock of humanity and humanness, the connection and the collaboration out of the saga of storytelling leading to the core formation of communities, educating us, entertaining us, healing us, touching us and making our life meaningfully engaged in times of struggle and strife, it works in its own ways to mitigate the building anger and pent-up angst…providing us with the poise and the wit, the wisdom, the joy and the bliss that follows.

Indelible impressions these stories leave on us and marking their solid marks in our fluid hearts and making us eternally inspired.

Storytelling is a venture into the wonderful world of compassion and empathy. Stories bridge the seemingly unbridgeable differences between communities, cultures and countries. The glue, the binder and the power house of knowledge, wisdom and source of tapping of latent inspirations and resources for rejuvenating our hibernate imagination.

Nihar Pradhan

Storyteller

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http://makeupandbreakup.com/2018/04/05/your-stories-my-stories-and-our-stories-stories-on-storytelling/2018-04-05T14:28:30+00:00Nihar R PradhanStoriesArt of Storytelling,Craft of Storytelling,My Stories,Our Stories,Stories on Storytelling,Your StoriesStorytelling has different forms and showcases different facets of life as we travel to different parts of the world - it is the culture, it is the traditions, it is the customs, these nuanced ingredients blends up beautifully to provide the perfect recipe. The special flavour and subtle aroma...Nihar R PradhanNiharR Pradhannrp_in@yahoo.comAdministratorTechnology Entrepreneur, Management Consultant, Creative Writer & Idea Blogger...
He makes distance with political dogmas and religious doctrines & breaks distance with nature and nurturing ideas. He deals and dwells on innovative titles and intriguing topics.
It is a place to get intellectually involved, emotional indulged and spiritually inspired. This blog is all about being bold and beautiful, solid and silence, aspire and inspire, drive and strive, and finally to make and break.Makeup & Breakup

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About Nihar R Pradhan

Technology Entrepreneur, Management Consultant, Creative Writer & Idea Blogger...
He makes distance with political dogmas and religious doctrines & breaks distance with nature and nurturing ideas. He deals and dwells on innovative titles and intriguing topics.
It is a place to get intellectually involved, emotional indulged and spiritually inspired. This blog is all about being bold and beautiful, solid and silence, aspire and inspire, drive and strive, and finally to make and break.

25 Comments Already

Story telling is an ancient art, which has evolved slowly into its present form, which is more systematic. Stories of Panchtantra, fables, fairy tales or Arabian tales had a purpose…they acquainted us with the culture and traditions of the area from where they emerged. Modern stories are a mish-mash of science fiction, fantasy, horror, spying, action and many such elements that hardly serve any serious purpose! Real life stories do get attention but their span is limited and they die a natural death. Stories of love, of kindness and affection have got lost in the mist of digital world. Stories that were handed down by word of mouth, that were told with love by grandparents have lost their significance.

I wouldn’t call Ted Talks as stories because stories were meant for relaxation, were told at leisure. They brought people together for bonding, which lasted. Ruskin Bond has highlighted this fact in one of his stories ‘The Kite Maker,’ who had to sell his kite shop because children were more interested in modern games and kite flying had lost its significance.

I agree with you Nihar, stories are a bridge between communities and cultures and it is imperative to keep the traffic across this bridge moving…only then the stories would remain alive in their true spirit. Thank you for this meaningful post.

At the outset thanks so much Balroop for such a wonderful take on the topic, your insightful thoughts always adds up so beautifully to the missing links in the subject. You have touched upon the journey of storytelling and yes how storytelling has changed its contour over the years and in good old days listening to stories from our grandparents was a delight and there was so much love and joy hidden in their words and voice.

Modern storytelling have become mechanical and are following a pattern and it is like applying a formula and we know what kind of outcome we are going to get it.
I agree TED talk is not storytelling and there is some kind to demonstration of one’s expertise and achievement rather than a platform to engage and entertain the gathered audience. What used to happen under the tree and where people from the village or community gathered in the evening and would listen to so fables and fairy-tales and there was sharing and there was fun, and storytelling was prime mover when these digital gadgets and the electronic devices hadn’t taken birth and when the communities were close to the nature and lived happily and stories came thick and fast from people, and all were storytellers.

Yes Ruskin Bond has always been such a wonderful storyteller and his simplicity and his observations what’s happening around him and he puts us in that very scene as if we are there and with him and journeying the daily life. Children today are moving away from nature and book reading, and inspiration for stories are embedded with nature, history and the culture of our communities…
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
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What a rich dialog your own narration here dear Nihar has given us, Indeed Story telling is an art pasted down throughout time, A time before books and scribes, where the history of one’s ancestry was told from father to son. Along with their history..
Where would we be without our story telling today. The never ending world through which not only important history is pasted on.. But where imagination is tapped into to bring to life adventures which tell of courage and as you say, those love stories which open up hearts.

I wish I could perhaps bring back the times of those gathered around a tree, to listen to stories. In our digital age books are loosing out to computer generated stories of interaction. As we see the next generation step into their virtual realities .

I loved my Story telling time at infant school where by my teacher would read a chapter at the end of the day to eager awaiting pupils who couldn’t wait to hear what happened next.. In stories such as The Borrowers, Tom Sawyer, Heidi , and Uncle Toms Cabin. 🙂

May we never loose the art of our storytelling..

A wonderful read this morning Nihar, as I make the effort to return to WP on this foggy day here in England. 🙂 Your writing skills always bring me delight and joy..

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week my friend and thank you So VERY much for your kind support and friendship..
Blessings sent your way
Sue 🙂

Thank you so much Dear Sue, we all connect through the common thread of stories…we all have such wonderful stories to tell. Indeed in our childhood days and those days in schools it was about the way we interacted and engaged with our teachers, and so was the case with family members and relatives when they come visiting our place and it was all about telling stories…listening raptly to such intriguing experiences.
I agree with the changing times and the invasion of technology into our life and we have shifted our focus from reading books to wandering in the digital space and our imagination has undergone a twisted drift and we suddenly realize the joy of telling stories or listening when we meet some wonderful storytellers or when we speak to children, they have a different world and the gap has widen significantly and the only way to connect with them is through the art of storytelling, yes the colour and canvas may have changed but the tool of storytelling continues to remain strong.
Reading those wonderful characters from the classics…Atticus Finch to Holden Caulfield, even as we keep reading the universal stories of Santiago from Alchemist to Siddhartha in Siddhartha. The story of dream to the story of life and hope, love and fear have always been part of such great storytelling and craft has been mastered by so many great storytellers and it keeps moving from generation and generation and we are fortunate to be going through the fundamental shift in the mode of storytelling with the role of digital technology.
Hope you are enjoying your lovely lovely weather, here we are preparing to face the brunt of imminent impact of the rising temperature…its hot and indication are clear the summer is going to test us.

Thank you dear Sue and you too have a great weekend and enjoy the beautiful nature surrounding your lovely house.
take care!!!
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Many thanks Nihar.. the lovely lovely weather we are waiting for to arrive.. We have had Fog the last two days with rain since Tuesday. Thankfully Monday we got some seed planting done.. Its been too wet to do anything other than indoors.. Wishing you a lovely weekend also my friend and thank you as always for your beautiful replies 😀

Wow!!! The thought of such lovely weather make me feel delighted though we know the challenge ahead here, summer takes a big toll on people who are working in the field and are less privileged. Not easy to face the heat, in some parts of India it almost touched 50, and nothing can mitigate that heat.

Great time to be with nature and get the seeds sown and taking care of garden is like taking care of our own health and nothing can be more fulfilling than being with nature and nurturing the saplings.
Thank you dear Sue and you too have a great weekend.
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Goodness that is HOT! Nihar.. today its 10c out and now raining, but dense cloud.. When we do see the Sun it makes such a difference.. Every one commented who live near us the other day when the Sun came out.. Its been such a long while since we had a clear blue sky day.. 😀

Dear Sue, such a pleasant weather there and so much to spend in the nature, and thoughts and ideas for great art work flows and you must be immersed in such lovely surroundings and this virtual space has no impact of weather and you can spend time at your will at this digital space.
Take care and wishing you a great week ahead.
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Right from the get go you wrote so passionately about storytelling, Nihar. True that storytelling showcases different parts of the world, live and people. There are so many genres of stories, some genres and narratives are constantly intertwined. With agonising stories, usually the narratives of pain, belonging and connections are woven together – and a story of pain in one part of the world can be similar to such a story elsewhere.

Interesting to read the history of storytelling, and it certainly comes in different forms. When I was a kid, I learned that mimes and puppet shows were traditional forms of storytelling in some cultures, and sometimes these shows had no spoken word but just action and characters moving. With the digital world, storytelling today has expanded in written, audio and visual forms. Platforms such as this blogging sphere and YouTube have given us a variety of tools and means to not just tell our stories, but to convey it in a way that connects with others – and challenges the way we tell stories. Stories need not be linear anymore and we can start in the middle and go back to the beginning and then go to the end – we just have to let our imagination run world.

Agree that every story matters, no matter how long or short it is. There is so much to learn from each story, written by each unique individual. Another well-thought out piece, Nihar 🙂

At the outset Mabel I must extend my sorry for not being able to visit your post and have been pending at my end. It has been pretty hectic last couple of months and just not been able to spend quality time here and I always wanted to read with a peace of mind when I visit your posts, will do it soon.

In all fairness we all are in the business of storytelling and we all have such fascinating stories to share and that’s why we all have such great conversations on such diverse topics and we all see the beauty in the way each of us share our part of the stories pecked with such lovely aspects of our culture and traditions that make it special. Yes, the stories have evolved over time and during those good old days we didn’t have the multiple media to showcase the stories and it was the only way we spoke and acted while telling it, today we have so many options and technology to make the storytelling quite interactive and interesting…YouTube and Facebook are some form of storytelling medium and we are hooked to it. Blogging is another form which brings a different flavour to it.
I agree there are so many genres and it has its own layers and twist but as rightly pointed out the stories depicting pain are universal and also the stories on love and empathy. It is all in our observations and the way we let our imagination play its wonderful part in making stories that count for the years to come.

You are a fantastic storyteller and you bring such nuanced perspective in each of your posts and we are hooked to the threads so deftly weaved in those lovely stories.
Mabel, have a lovely week ahead. Thanks once again.
😀

Sometimes life calls and we have to deal with life. So at times we will be busier than others. When the time comes, we will have great chats.

I think you are right – that our stories are fascinaing and worthy of sharing and that makes great conversation. Not only do we share aspects of our culture but we also share pieces of ourselves through our stories and that is what makes then unique. When we tell stories, we are vulnerable and put ourselves out there. Not everyone may like the stories that we tell – that is their opinion and it doesn’t make our stories less important.

Thanks for your kind words. Layers to stories is what makes us delve deep into the message and the emotions of the narrative. You convey your passion for the written word and writing through each post you put up, Nihar, with every topic explored in depth from different angles. Well done.

Yes Mabel we get into so many works and we loose track of things that are important for us and we are busy in doing the urgent things. We all go through these different phases of life.

How else the world would have connected and communicated such great stories happening in different part of the world, as far as television and print media is concerned that share one part of the stories and they will do so which has commercial value to them and very few pick up stories which has message and social dimension to it. Blogging and similar mediums are making the stories reach far and wide and new forms of stories that otherwise get sidetracked in the main stream of media.
Not today but as time goes by these repository of stories will slowly and certainly find its due place and there are so many of these wonderful stories that come out of this platform, perhaps time is the only factor that limits us in reading through them all.

Thanks so much Mabel and will soon be reading your posts and we can have our wonderful exchange of ideas.
Have a great day ahead.
😀

When we go through these busy phases, we are still living stories. When we slow down and have a breather, then we will tell these stories. So in a sense, it all works out 😀

So true traditional media has a strong commercial aspect to it, much more so than many online platforms. However it’s no secret that some social media platforms such as Facebook are heading down that path, and we can all monetise our blogs through ads if we wanted to. However, there still is so much more room for us to be more vocal in the online sphere 😀

So well said Mabel, indeed when we go through the storm we are living stories and yes stories we will recollect when we storm subsidies.
The way social media has hijacked the traditional media in such a short span, it may so happen that excessive use of social media in short period may result in fatigue and we may turn back to the basics of traditional media.
😀

Story telling has been a part of every culture for the longest time. Weaving words together to spin a tale has entertained, educated and tied us together. My childhood was spent reading books and listening to stories from my parents and grandparents. Invasion of technology is slowly wiping out the “imagination” aspect that is so important while hearing tales. In the past, not only did stories entertain, it kept communities together and created bonds. Loved your post!

So beautifully encapsulated the world of storytelling and how it has undergone a dramatic shift. We still remember those good old days when we had limited options for entertainment and it was these medium of face to face telling of stories that engaged and built communities. society is a body of different communities and communities are connected by such powerful stories. Hearing from our grandparents was such a joyful experience and there was such strong belief and the narration from them was simple but always left an indelible mark in our impressionable minds constantly looking for new characters.
Thanks Dipali and great to have such lovely conversation.
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Storytelling is such an innate part of our life and living that many times it is embedded in our thinking and working, but only when we pause and reflect on the characters and plots we have encountered we then start to enjoy those nice little moments.
Thanks Neha.
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You have brought storytelling and it’s various forms as practiced around the world alive through this post. Stories really have the capacity to bind us together across geographic regions and cultures.

A few years ago I came across the term, ‘universality of human experience’. What better way to acquaint ourselves with others and feel the connection, if not through our personal narratives and experiences?

You seem to know so much. I am surprised at the extent of information you have shared here. I honestly believe story telling is an art. You have a distinct way of sharing information. And your topics are very different than any other blog I have come across. Interesting and intuitive. I wonder how you think so much and in an interesting way.

I wish I make some more time to read the articles you have posted. These are very different than what I can comprehend. Still, I would love to read them.

Thank you so much Jayanthy for such a lovely feedback. Storytelling is such a fascinating aspect of life, and we all have our own tales to tell…indeed it is the art that connects the missing dots in many work of innovation. The precursor to scientific invention. It is such a great pleasure discovery wonderful blogger friends like you and as we share our thoughts on diverse topics and exchange different ideas, we grow as a blogger and more importantly we become a better human being with enrichment of thoughts and enlightenment.
Looking forward to reading your blog.
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